Sides, breads & soups · Karnataka

Neeru Chutney

The thin, pourable coconut chutney ladled out at Bengaluru darshinis and Andhra tiffin centres, light enough to soak into a crisp dosa or flood a plate of idli.

Prep 10 min · Cook 3 min · Total 13 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Chutney

• ¾ cup Fresh coconut, grated
• 1 tbsp Roasted chana dal (hurigadale / putnalu)
• 2 Green chillies
• ½ inch Ginger
• 2 tbsp Coriander leaves
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 ½ cups Water

Tadka

• 2 tsp Oil
• ½ tsp Mustard seeds
• ½ tsp Urad dal
• 1 Dried red chilli, broken
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 1 pinch Asafoetida (hing)

Method

1. Grind fine. Grind the coconut, roasted chana dal, green chillies, ginger, coriander and salt with 1/2 cup of the water until completely smooth, with no grainy bits of coconut left. This takes longer than a normal chutney.
2. Thin it out. Pour into a bowl and stir in the rest of the cold water until it runs off a spoon like thin buttermilk. Taste and add salt; it needs a little more than you'd expect once diluted.
3. Temper. Heat the oil, pop the mustard seeds, then fry the urad dal and red chilli until golden. Add the curry leaves and hing and pour over the chutney.
4. Serve. Stir well every time you serve it, as it settles. Ladle generously over idli, vada or set dosa.

Tips

The secret of hotel chutney is grinding the coconut really smooth before thinning, so it stays silky instead of separating into watery bits. A handful of roasted peanuts in the grind is a common darshini trick for extra body.